Poll reslts

Poll: US power waning in Pacific, China rising

People across the Asia-Pacific think American power is waning and that China will dominate the region over the next decade, according to a recent survey by the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Center.

However, the online poll — which surveyed 750 people each in Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea — also shows that many see America’s influence in the region as strong and positive.

“Respondents across the Asia-Pacific tend to agree that we are either seeing, or have seen, the high-water mark of American power,” the report said. “There is a high degree of consensus that ‘American’s best days are in the past’… and that China will eventually replace the United States as the world’s leading superpower.”

Among the countries surveyed, Australians were the most likely to report that China has the most influence in Asia today (69 percent) and the most likely to use the term “competitors” to describe the relationship between the U.S. and China (70 percent), according to the survey.

“Australia’s relative distance from China — coupled with the fact that China is Australia’s largest trading partner — sees Australia perhaps less anguished by China’s rise, and Australian respondents less willing to express a strong preference for continued strong ties with the United States,” the report said.